Thinking Activity
Absalom and Achitophel
- John Dryden
- Basic information about the poem "Absalom and Achitophel "
INTRODUCTION :-
Absalom and Achitophel is a celebrated satirical poem written by John Dryden.The poem is written in heroic couplets and first published in 1681. The poem tells the Biblical tale of the rebellion of Absalom against king David; in this context it is an allegory used to represent a story contemporary to Dryden, concerning king Charles the second and the Exclusion Crisis(1679 - 1681). The poem also references the Popish Plot (1678) and the Monmouth reballion (1685).
About The Writer :-
John Dryden was the greatest English poet of the 17the century. After William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson, he was the greatest playwright. After Shakespeare, he wrote the greatest heroic play of the century.
The Conquest Of Granada (1670,1671)and the greatest tragicomedy, Marriage A-La-Mode(1671). He wrote the greatest tragicomedy Don Sebastian(1689). He wrote the greatest tragedy of the Restoration,All For Love(1677),and one of the greatest comedies Amphitryon(1690).
About The Poem "Absalom and Achitophel" :-
Absalom and Achitophel,Verse satire by English Poet John Dryden published in 1681. The poem ,which is written in heroic couplets,and this poem is based on a biblical incident. These chapters relate the story of King David's favourite son Absalom and false friend Achitophel,who persuades Absalom to revolt against his father. In this poem,Dryden assigns each figures in the Crises a biblical name. Like.,
- Absalom is Monmouth
- Achitophel is Shaftesbury
- David is Charles the second
Absalom wants to be a next king but he is illegitimate son of Charles the Second, so he cannot be a next king. And in this matter,sa many people's are supported Absalom and so many people's are against Absalom,but at the end of the poem, Absalom cannot be a king or we can say he cannot be succed against the king Charles the Second.
Question :- 1.
While reading the original poem, what are the aspects of the poem which attracted or charmed or surprised you?
At the time of reading poetry there are something's which attracts or surprised me.
That things are.,
- Why David looke Absalom indifferently,when he is his illegitimate son.
- Why only Absalom is David's favourite son,when he has lots of other illegitimate son's.
- If Absalom is his favourite son,then why David doesn't made him the next king.
This are the questions arises in my mind or attracts me in this poetry.
Question :- 2
List down the 'VICES' which are supposed to be 'corrected' through this satire.
Absalom and Achitophel,this is a satirical poem written by John Dryden in heroic couplet.
What is Satire :-
According to Oxford Dictionary Satire means, " The use of humour,irony, exaggeration or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues".
This poem' Absalom and Achitophel ' is a political satire, this poem's Characters are taken from The Bible and Characters represents the characters of Contemporary times. Like.,
Vices of the poem :-
There are two vises in this poem,
1). Lust
2). Temptation
1.Lust :-
There is two types of lust,which we can see here in this poem. There are.,
1). Physical Lust
2). Lust of Power
1). Physical Lust :- We can see,the main concept of the poem is physical Lust. King David or Charles the second is having physical Lust,that he has a numbers of wives or we can say slaves,to whom he has a physical relationships.
2). Lust of Power :- Lust of Power also we can see in the character Charles the Second because through the use of Power he can do everything. He is not a good king but then after here he describes as a God because he has a power that's why no one can take a stand against him.
2. Temptation :-
Temptation is represented by the character Absalom,he wants to be a next king. He is illegitimate son of Charles the second that's why he cannot be a king. Absalom fights against his father to be a king but at the end we can see the downfall of Absalom because he is an illegitimate son of the king that's why he cannot be a next king.
These are the vices which are supposed to be corrected through this satire.
Question :- 3
Make a list of Characters who favoured King David(Charles the second) and those who were against him.
Question:- 4
What sort of general impression of this sort of literature (i.e., Political satire) do you get when you read it.
Literature serves the interest of Power. Literature is not imitated but it can avoid some of the things. Sometimes literature serves the real image of the things through the use of satire.
In this poem, we can see the real Image of Charles the second and his monarchy. This poem, used Biblical
characters and represents the real Image of the life and
Lust of Charles the second.
In this poem,we can see some of the things which is avoided in this poem. Dryden describes David or we can say Charles the second as a God like king. Here he hide the real character of David, and he writes in favour of king. In this poem,he tries to hide some of the bad things of Charles the second,like he represents the lust of David as "A Divine Lust" .
Through the use of satire he describes the real character of Charles the second.
Here is another examples,which is written on recent time :-
1. Shashi Tharoor's " The Great Indian novel" based on Mahabharata.
Here is the characters who represents the political characters:-
Mahabharata’s Character | Politicians of Contemporary times |
Bhishma | Mahatma Gandhi |
Dhritarashtra | Jawaharlal Nehru |
Pandu | Subhash Chandra Bose |
Vidura | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
Drona | Jayprakash Narayan |
Draupadi | Democracy |
Amba | Nathuram Godse |
Kaurava Party | Congress Party |
Pandavas | The Janta Party |
2. Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children".
Midnight's Children is a 1981 novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a postcolonial, postmodern and magical realist story told by its chief protagonist, Saleem Sinai, set in the context of historical events. The style of preserving history with fictional accounts is self-reflexive. Through the literature,we can get so many bad things or real Image of royal people's because we cannot say them directly,but through the use of literature,we can say them indirectly.
In this poem," Absalom and Achitophel" Dryden criticize the character of Charles the second.
Question :- 5
Can you write on any other political satire with reference to this one?
I try to write the poem on political satire.
Here is the poem :-
ગરીબોની ગાથા
કહેવાય છે તો લોકશાહી,
પણ રાજાશાહી જ યાદ અપાવાય છે,
મોદીજી તામારા રાજમાં તો,
ગરીબોને જ પ્રથમ સ્થાન અપાય છે.
વાત નોતબંધીની હોય કે પછી
Lockdown ની, ગરીબો જ મોખરે દેખાય છે.
ખેડૂતોને ભગવાન ગણી,
અનેક યોજનાઓ ઘડાય છે.
મહેનત ને માન આપી,
અનાજ ટેકાના ભાવે ખરીદાય છે.
દેશ મારો યુવાન પ્રધાન,
જેનો ગર્વ ઘણો કરાય છે.
ભરતીઓ તો ઘણી આવે,
પણ દેશ બેરોજગાર ઘણો દેખાય છે.
લોભ,લાલચ ને પૈસાના મોહે,
લોકોના ઈમાન વેચાય છે,
તેથી જ તો મોદીજી લોકો વચ્ચે,
ભગવાન જેમ પુંજાય છે.
- Aarti Sarvaiya
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